Aerial photo taken on Oct. 18, 2020 shows harvesters operating in rice fields at Jiangzhuang Village of Luanzhou City in north China's Hebei Province. China's grain output reached nearly 670 billion kg in 2020, up 5.65 billion kg, or 0.9 percent, from last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday. This marks the sixth consecutive year that the country's total grain production has exceeded 650 billion kg. The bumper harvest comes despite disrupted farming as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, which has been held in check thanks to efforts to ensure the transportation of agricultural materials and strengthen farming management.Photo:Xinhua

China’s grain output set a new record in 2020 with a yearly growth of 0.9 percent despite the coronavirus-related impacts to the general economy, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. 

Last year, China produced 669.49 million tons of grain, up 5.65 million tons, or 0.9 percent compared with 2019. Wheat output also increased by 0.5 percent, soybean production edged up 8.3 percent, and rice output grew by 1.1 percent, the NBS data showed. 

Meat output also recovered at a relatively fast pace, with beef production rising by 0.8 percent to 6.72 million tons, while the output of lamb rose by one percent to 4.92 million tons. 

Pork output decreased by 3.3 percent year-on-year to 41.13 million tons in 2020. However, the quantity of live hogs and sows that could farrow increased by 31 percent and 35.1 percent, respectively, at the end of 2020 compared with the corresponding period during the previous year. 

The growth in grain and meat production demonstrates China’s capabilities to guarantee food supplies even when faced with external uncertainties such as the China-US trade dispute, which made Chinese imports of US agricultural products unreliable, as well as the coronavirus pandemic. 

China’s economy recovered steadily in general last year, with notable results achieved in stabilizing employment and ensuring people’s basic needs. In 2020, China’s GDP grew 2.3 percent to 101.6 trillion yuan ($15.68 trillion), the only major economy in the world to record positive economic growth. 

Global Times